Yes, we know it has not arrived yet, but even as we wait for the official launch of India’s first 3G tablet by Olive Telecom tomorrow, we must confess that our minds are a mess with all sorts of questions. Here, are seven of the most important. Do let us know if you have the answers handy. If not, no fear. We will discover all come the morrow. Watch this space. In the meantime, do cast an eye on the queries scuttling through our minds and if you have any answers, do put us out of our collective agony.
- What OS will it run: Android, Windows 7, Windows Mobile/Phone/Whatever…just how good the device is going to be will depend on the software purring beneath its hood. We are keeping our fingers crossed for Android.
- Connectivity: Yes, we know it will have 3G connectivity but we are equally concerned about whether it will be able to connect easily to USB drives, printers, keyboards and the like. Will it come with unrestricted Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and GPS? The more the merrier. We are betting on Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. Anything more will be a welcome bonus!
- Size: The only objection we have seen many people raise to the iPad is about its size which many say make it difficult to handle while standing. So how big will Olive’s tablet be? We are betting on a seven inch screen with a 800 x 600 resolution. Which really is good enough for most content, on the Web or off it.
- User Interface: Will we have multi-touch? Will there be widgets? What about drop-down menus? Will we get live updates from Facebook and Twitter on the homescreeen, with the cricket score thrown in for good measure? Ahh…the tension will kill us.
- Camera (s): All right, we giggled when some people complained about the iPad not having a camera, but we cannot help wondering if the Olive tablet has one. Or even two – after all, this is a 3G device, so video-calling will be very much on. Honestly, we are not expecting anything here, and heck, we will not miss a camera either.
- Apps: Just how easy will it be to install apps on the device and what kind of apps will be there on it out of the box? We think the OS will hold the clues here.
- Price: The biggest question of them all. Olive is not known for charging high prices (the 3G netbook comes with decent specs for under Rs 15k!), so we are very optimistic on this front. However, the cost of 3G access might be a bit on the higher side. Still we are hoping for a device that costs around Rs 15,000 and has data plans starting at Rs 499 per month.
